The Honey Pomelo King of Ji'an, Jiangxi, Got Rich and Did Not Forget His Fellow Villagers

In midsummer, Ji'an swelters under rolling heat waves. At the Jinggang Honey Pomelo base of the Third Branch of the Baishui Reclamation Farm in Jishui County, "Pomelo King" Wang Minggen gazes at 1031 honey pomelo trees bearing a promising crop, his dark face filled with the joy of an imminent harvest. Meanwhile, the villagers of Jiangnan Village, Yongyang Town, Ji'an County, who received Wang Minggen's "true instruction," wait under the scorching sun for their own Jinggang honey pomelo trees to bear fruit and sell for money, so they can shake off the label of impoverished households as soon as possible.

"Honey Pomelo King" Wang Minggen and His Fruit Trees

Contracting 180 mu of pomelo orchard earns a million yuan a year

One morning more than ten years ago, Wang Minggen, a farmer from Ji'an County, rode an old-style motorcycle with two baskets hanging on it, and arrived dusty and travel-worn at the barren hills of the Third Branch of the Baishui Reclamation Farm in Jishui County, where he bought golden Jinggang honey pomelos at 5 jiao each, then rushed to the pedestrian street of Ji'an City to peddle the honey pomelos along the street.

In 2004, the small vendor Lao Wang transformed himself into a farm owner. In one go, he contracted more than 30 mu of nearly abandoned pomelo orchard at the Baishui Town Reclamation Farm, becoming a widely known "Honey Pomelo King." Now, the 1031 Jinggang honey pomelo trees here have an annual output of more than 300,000 jin, and Lao Wang's annual net income is as high as more than a million yuan.

This year, Lao Wang contracted another 150 mu of land in Zhiyang Township, Ji'an County, his hometown, and planted more than 3000 Jinggang honey pomelo trees.

Guiding villagers to grow honey pomelos to escape poverty and become better off

Lao Wang, who now lives a good life, has not forgotten his origins or his roots. In recent years, under his guidance on planting techniques, farmers in Jishui County, Ji'an County and other places, especially some impoverished households, have begun to plant Jinggang honey pomelos in appropriate amounts.

Xiao Zhenghui, 35 this year, and his wife are both people with disabilities. In 2013, Xiao Zhenghui applied for a guaranteed loan of 100,000 yuan to grow Jinggang honey pomelos and Qilin melons. Because Xiao Zhenghui received Lao Wang's "true instruction," he is now in charge of pest and disease control and other work at the 1100-mu Jinggang honey pomelo base in Jiangnan Village, serving as a veritable "technical director."

"I now earn 20,000 yuan a year from management work at the base, my wife earns 20,000 to 30,000 a year working at the county industrial park, and together with 40,000 to 50,000 from selling Qilin melons, our family's annual income is now nearly 100,000 yuan," Xiao Zhenghui said happily.